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Pakistan : Workshops and Consultations

CHRI-CRCP Consultation on Police Reforms, July 2008

CHRI’s first programming visit to Pakistan took place in July 2008. In cooperation with the Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP), CHRI organised a consultation in Islamabad entitled, “From Force to Service: Towards Better Policing in Pakistan”. The objective was to examine the state of police reforms in Pakistan and what possible advocacy could be done on the issue. Immediately after the consultation, CHRI visited Lahore and with the assistance of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) launched two publications – the 2007 CHOGM report and the 2007 Feudal Forces report.

CHRI-HRCP Consultation on Police Reforms, November 2009

On November 28, 2009, CHRI visited Lahore once more and conducted a consultation in association with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) entitled, ‘Police Reform in Pakistan: Beyond Analysis’. The intent was to bring together key policy/decision-makers and identify specific ways to further substantive dialogue on the issue of better policing. However, since the Mumbai attacks occurred just prior to the consultation, a number of key people were unable to attend the meeting. Nevertheless, the event was useful in providing additional information for the Feudal Forces 2008.

CHRI-CPDI-IL Consultation on Policing in Conflict 2011

A two-day round table conference was held in Islamabad on the theme of policing in conflict in collaboration with the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) and Individualland (IL), two Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) based in Islamabad. The main idea of the conference was to highlight the negative impact of repressive and unaccountable policing, of the centrality of police reforms in a peace process, and cultivating stronger ties among key stakeholders in order to enable a sustained engagement on police reforms. The conference brought together key police and government officials, lawyers, CSOs, international organizations and media professionals. Notably, many of the CSOs that participated such as SHEHRI, CPDI, Rozan and HRCP are also part of the Pakistan Forum on Democratic Policing, a coalition of CSOs and other stakeholders formed in mid-2011 to advocate for police reforms. Alongside facilitating interaction and dialogue between various CSOs, the conference was also attended by few influential police officials, one retired IGP and another member of the National Police Bureau, who contributed significantly on the politics of police reform within the police and the government. Discussions that ensued were rich and vibrant. CHRI’s role was deeply appreciated, particularly in bringing on board an expert on policing from Northern Ireland, Ms Aideen Gilmore, who could share lessons drawn from police reforms from another conflict area. With this conference, CHRI has strengthened its engagement in Pakistan. CHRI now intends to provide technical support to the Forum in order to help it emerge as a powerful pressure group in the country on police reforms.